North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has received a Russian-made car from Russian President Vladimir Putin as a gift.
The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Feb. 20 that the ruling Workers’ Party Secretary Pak Jong-chon and Party Vice Director Kim Yo-jong, Kim Jong-un’s sister, received Putin’s gift on Feb. 18.
Kim Yo-jong described the car as “the most excellent gift and a clear demonstration of the close friendship between the two leaders of the DPRK and Russia.”
The KCNA said that Kim conveyed Kim Jong-un’s message of thanks to Putin to the Russian side with high respect.
During Kim Jong-un’s visit to Russia last September, Putin introduced the Russian-made luxury car, Aurus. It has yet to be confirmed whether the gifted vehicle is of the same brand. Aurus, known as the “Russian Rolls-Royce,” is a brand used by high-ranking officials such as the Russian President and Prime Minister for official purposes. At that time, Kim inspected the car’s exterior before sitting in the back seat to test the comfort, and he appeared very satisfied.
Putin’s gift of the car might violate the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions against North Korea. The UNSC sanctions prohibit not only the export to North Korea of luxury goods, including high-value vehicles but also the export of any transportation vehicles.
Despite the UNSC sanctions, the North Korean leadership, including Kim Jong-un, has publicly appeared in high-end German cars like Mercedes-Benz, undermining the effectiveness of the sanctions.
In a Central Committee meeting of the Workers’ Party broadcast by Korean Central Television last December, top North Korean officials arrived in Mercedes-Benz S-Class vehicles. Kim Jong-un, who uses a Maybach S-Class sedan, was seen in a Maybach SUV in a documentary aired on Feb. 15, a vehicle with a starting price of around 260 million won in domestic markets.
